Our Festive Home

Every year, we try to make our home a little reflective of the Christmas season. So, for those of you that do not get to come to our home during Christmas time, we proudly present pictures from our home:

Our Christmas Tree--picture doesn't do it justice. We have ornaments from BM (before marriage, not bowel movement!) from both of us and ornaments we have collected over the years.

A view of our home from the street. Notice the garbage can on the right--part of our outdoor decorations!

A closer look at the decorations on the left side of our house.

The right side of our house. Notice Sadie on the steps--laying on the rug in front of the door. Also, our Christmas Tree can be seen in the window.

As you can see, we will be having a white Christmas since we have gotten a good snow storm. It is snowing again today and it has been cold, so there is no chance the snow will melt before Santa flies off to deliver gifts.

Angie is incredibly excited about Santa coming. She has been telling us what she was going to ask Santa since before Halloween. For Lilli, it is all new. I'm sure Angie will get her excited about it next year, but I think she is still a couple years away from total excitement.

The Bourne Ultimatum

Over the weekend, we watched The Bourne Ultimatum, the third movie of the Bourne series. We found the movie very entertaining and would recommend it to anyone wishing a good action movie. We are fans of all three of the movies.

Thanksgiving

I know this is way overdue, but I decided I had better get something written about Thanksgiving.

Our Thanksgiving weekend actually started on Tuesday. At work, I do a lot things with the Holiday Inn at Pocatello. Each year, Holiday Inn hosts ISU employees for a meal and then provide us with a certificate for a free night's stay at the Holiday Inn. We took advantage of that on Tuesday. Angie loves the Holiday Inn since she can go swimming in the Holidome. So, Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning was spent swimming.

After we checked out of the hotel, we then went to the movie Bolt. This was a very cute movie. Lilli watched half of it before falling asleep while Angie watched the whole thing. The movie was presented in 3D, but we could not get Angie to keep her glasses on. That seemed wierd since without the glasses, it was blurry. In short, the movie is about a dog who is in a TV show where he has super powers. The producers do not let the dog know that he really does not have super powers so his reactions are genuine. The dog gets out of his trailer and falls into a box that is shipped to New York. Once in New York, he thinks he can use his super powers to get back to his owner. With the help of a cat and a hamster, he goes cross country to find out what is real.

On Thursday, we spent Thanksgiving with the Gambles. It was a very delicious dinner, and being able to lounge around and visit made it a great day.

On Friday, Deb and I braved the early morning shoppers in Pocatello. NewsChannel 6 in Pocatello did a news story about Black Friday. Even though we are not in the video, we were in the crowd that was rushing into Shopko. I knew I had to run or be trampled!

We went to Preston's Festival of Lights and then the Bar J Wranglers on Saturday. Chelsea posted pictures on her blog.

Sunday, Angie gave her third talk in Primary. She did a great job. Dad was incredibly proud and Mom was beaming from ear to ear as she did her talk. After church, we had dinner at Mom's and said good-bye to everyone.

The Christmas Sweater

As a fan of Glenn Beck, I had heard him talk about his book, The Christmas Sweater, a lot. So, when I heard it had been published, I asked Deb to look out for it at the Downey Library. When the library got it in, Deb checked it out for me (the first to check the book out from Downey!).

In short, the book is about a 13 year old boy who has already lost his father to cancer and then loses his mother in a car accident. He lives with his grandparents and becomes bitter about how his life has become. Through the help of a neighbor named Russell, he begins to understand what is really important in life.

The book is not too long, and I was able to read it in four hours over two days. Before I read the book, I wondered if this book would be the same as The Christmas Box. The overall theme of redemption and fixing things right are the only similarities. As I came to the end of the book, I shed a few tears, and I was very grateful for the opportunity to read the book.

I Am Legend

Several weeks ago, Deb and I watched I Am Legend on DVD. In short, the movie is about a man, Dr. Robert Neville, who is immune a virus that turns humans into zombie-like creatures that are sensitive to sunlight. Dr. Neville uses his days to search for other survivors and finding a cure for the virus.

As a "time to time" movie viewer, I judge my movies on how long I reflect on the movie after seeing it; how much do they make me think. For days after the movie, I would find myself thinking about one scene or another. I found the premise very interesting and the twists and turns very intriguing. As such, I would recommend this movie. However, as we started to watch the movie, we realized it was way too intense for children and finished watching it when Angie and Lilli were asleep.

Update on Ted

I thought that I should update everyone on how things are going with me. On Nov. 6th, I finished with the 24-hr IV therapy. I still had the PICC line in so they could draw blood from me for the next few weeks. However, a few days later I noticed that my vein in my arm just below my elbow had a hard lump in it. I went to the hospital, had an ultrasound done of my arm, and then told that I had a blood clot in the arm--caused by the PICC line. The PICC line was removed and I went to Dr. Gibby to see how to treat it. I am now on blood thinner (coumadin--actually the the generic version of coumadin).
Dr. Gibby said it would probably be about six months before I can stop taking blood thinner. On we go!

Accidents Do Happen

Last night, Dec. 9, Angie was trying to be helpful. She had turned off the lights on the Christmas tree and the lights around the Nativity scene. She then wanted to turn off the light in the curio cabinet when she grabbed the glass shelf to sturdy herself. Of course, the shelf was not attached and it sent everything tumbling to the ground, breaking one piece of a Nativity scene that Deb had in the cabinet. Deb and I were in the kitchen talking when the accident happened. We went running into the front room to see Angie dashing to hide behind the couch. When I grabbed Angie as she was trying to hide (with a great amount of fear and apprehension on her face), she screamed and then started to cry. I quickly realized it was an accident after I saw that the lights on the tree and around the big Nativity were off. I told her to stop crying and tell me what had happened. When I told her that we knew it was an accident, she stopped crying to tell us what happened.

As a parent, I began to wonder if I have not been doing right in raising her. Why would she want to flee and hide after an accident? Why did she not run to us for protection? I know we have put the fear of death into her if she broke any of "Mommy's pretties." Perhaps we need to give her more support and comfort. I don't know. This is the first time around for this parenting thing!

The True Meaning of Christmas

Each year, the two stakes in Marsh Valley (Arimo and McCammon) put on Michael McLean's The Forgotten Carols. For using local talent and following the script as a readers' theater, it is a wonderful performance. The talent we have here in this valley is amazing, and it is brought out with this production. However, the fabulous story that is told by The Forgotten Carols is what makes this such a great production. Each time I watch the program, whether Michael McLean's stage show or this local show, it really moves me. How he devised the ideas of the "forgotten" people involved with Christ's life is so moving, it is hard to explain it.

My favorite part of the whole story is of the innkeeper. Here is a man, who realizes too late, that he could have been part of something more important than the money he made that night. The second favorite part is the story of Handel--the young man wanting to take part but must wait until his full talent blossoms. And of course, the whole underlying story of The Forgotten Carols is the ability to recognize that Christ is there for each of us, and He can lift us beyond our own limitations. It is hard to express in words the feelings of my heart. I do know this--I love Christ and what He has done for me, my family, and the world. I just hope to show my love to Him by word and deed.

More Holy War Excitement

As I mentioned in my earlier post, I have been reading Quinn Gooch's blog. It is very informative and gets me stoked up for each game. Today (Nov. 19), Quinn posted a description of the final drive of the 2006 game. It was written by John Beck. It gave me goosebumps as I read it! You can find it here.


GO COUGARS! BEAT THE yewts!

Bring It On!

I know I haven't posted much since my illness--because I have been so busy!--, but I needed to post this. I read former BYU player Quinn Gooch's blog, and he posted these videos on his blog. I have to share them here!

BEAT UTAH!

The first video is from 2006--Harline is still open!


This video is from LaVell's last game, 2000:


Here is 2001's great game (and our third date--pantyhose anyone?):


Again...

BEAT UTAH!

Lilli's Adoption Day

I have put off doing this blog entry because I wanted to post some pictures from Lilli's Adoption Day. However, we are in the process of rearranging our basement, and I cannot find the disc that had the pictures from that day. It is some pile in the basement. We also forgot our camera so we have no pictures of the day. (The picture is from Leisha when Lynn blessed her.)

Unfortunately, I have let too much time go between her Adoption Day and now so some of the specifics of the day are gone. However, we did take the girls to the zoo in Pocatello for the day. The girls loved looking at the animals, particularly the bears. The zoo has a play area with a slide and the girls loved going down the slide.

After the zoo, we did some shopping. The girls had torn Deb's swimming suit from grabbing onto her while swimming, so we looked for a new swimming suit for Deb. Deb found a suit at Kmart that she wanted to try on. Angie decided she wanted to see Mom in the dressing room when she had put the suit on. Deb let her in. When Angie got into the room, she said in a voice load enough for everyone nearing the dressing room to hear, "Hubba, hubba!" Oh--she's my girl!

The Sick and the Afflicted

I thought that I should probably update everyone on what has happened the last few weeks. Since my last post, we have had Lilli's Adoption Day (July 31), the two Brower reunions (Ariah & Annie Brower reunion--Deb's great grandparents [August 2] and the O. L. & Idonna Brower reunion--Deb's family [August 2 through August 7]), Elvin's wedding (August 7), our one day visit to the South Bannock County Fair (August 8), and Deb's visit with Uncle Jay (August 11). I will blog more extensively on these events later. However, I would like to update all on what has afflicted me the past few weeks.

As I have mentioned, we went to the O. L. & Idonna Brower reunion. Most of the reunion was at North Canyon just outside of Liberty, Idaho. We packed up and left early on Thursday to come home for Elvin's wedding. Friday, I had plans to get everything settled from camping and to do some yard work. I was so tired, though, I could not do anything so basically I laid around and slept. At the time, I thought it was just from camping (though I was unusually tired), but now in hindsight I can see that it was the beginning of my body telling me something.

That evening, we went to the fair and looked through all the buildings. My back bothered me a bit, but I thought is was from all the lifting and bending from camping. When I started to crawl into bed, the muscles in my back spasmed. It was painful but as I relaxed in bed, it went away. Some eight or nine years ago, I got muscle spasms in my lower back. After a day or two, they went away so as I fell asleep I thought that is what would happen. This time the spasms were in the middle of my back and not in the lower back. However, as the night progressed every little move I made caused my muscles to spasm. By the time morning arrived, every little twitch made my back spasm. It was incredibly painful. I have had appendicitis and broken my collar bone. Neither of those could compare to the pain I had each time my back spasmed. I laid around all day Saturday dumping ibuprofen and Tylenol into me to ease the pain. I had a very difficult time sleeping and on Sunday I stayed home from church. I insisted that Deb and the girls go so I stayed home and slept. It was still very painful and I was also beginning to get a little fever now and then.

On Monday, Deb had to go to Jerome to pick her mother up. She had gone out earlier to Aunt Lavon's so she could visit with Uncle Jay who was coming to visit. Deb called Mom and had her come and babysit me and Lilli while Angie and Deb went to Jerome. While Mom was here, we ran down to the HealthWest Clinic here in Downey to check me out. About an hour before going, I had taken an 800 mg ibuprofen. The pain and fever would significantly subside whenever I took the ibuprofen so when I saw the doctor, I actually felt pretty good. I thought I had whipped it and was on the mend. However, when the ibuprofen began to wear off, I started to get sick again. Not only that, but my stomach began hurt. I was afraid I had taken too much medicine and now my stomach was reacting to it. Mom called our neighbor, Ben Evans, to come and give me a blessing. Ben called Bishop Johnson and together they blessed me. That night, I slept a little better than I had previously, but I was still a sick boy.

Tuesday, Deb's Alison Pantry order came in. I laid in bed and on the couch as Deb did all the work. Usually, I am at work when her orders come in so she was looking forward to my help on this delivery, but I could not. Although the doctor had warned me that too much ibuprofen and Tylenol would be disastrous for my stomach, I kept taking them. I would take 800 mg of ibuprofen and then four hours later take three 500 mg tablets of Tylenol. As the day progressed, the Tylenol seemed to lose its effectiveness and only the ibuprofen offered some relief. That night was the most miserable night I had ever spent in my life. My back was still spasming very painfully. My stomach was killing me. I was chilling and then burning up. I could not get comfortable. During the night, I called the Franklin County Medical Center to see what I could do about my stomach. They suggested Pepto Bismal. I took it and it settled my stomach and I finally fell asleep at about 4 a.m. It didn't last long though as I woke up again at about 5 a.m.

We decided I had better go back to the clinic to see what can be done. When I got there, I had a fever of 104.9 degrees. The doctor said I needed to go to an emergency room and quickly. We decided to go to Preston since Dr. Mark Gibby had been my doctor for years. When Deb's mom arrived to watch the kids, we took off for the Franklin County Medical Center. Lucky for us, Dr. Gibby was the on-call doctor so he saw us right after we were checked into the ER. He immediately ordered an IV for me so that a painkiller and other things could be pumped into my body. I then had some blood drawn and I gave some urine for more tests. After awhile, I was admitted to the hospital and then had chest x-rays and a CT scan done. Dr. Gibby called me the mystery man because he could not figure out what was going on with me. I spent the night at the hospital and Deb, bless her heart, stayed with me sleeping in a recliner.

Thursday morning, Dr. Gibby came in and told me that my blood culture had grown staph (staphylococcus aureus). Somewhere in my body, I had a staph infection. Dr. Gibby then said he had talked with several doctors, bouncing off ideas what may be going on. He then mentioned that one doctor in Pocatello, Dr. Cary Jackson, would take my case but I would have to transfer to the Portneuf Medical Center. Previously while taking my vital signs, it was noticed that my blood-oxygen levels were below normal. They had put me on oxygen to keep them in the normal range. When I was told that I would be transferred, Dr. Gibby said Deb could take me if my oxygen level was normal. Otherwise, I would have to go by ambulance.

When Deb found out I was going to be transferred to Pocatello, she felt I needed another blessing so she called Bishop Wakley to ask for some suggestions. Bp. Wakley said he would call his brother, Randy, who was living in Preston to see if he could do it. About an hour later, Randy (who was also a classmate of mine through all my school years and also a roommate at BYU) came with a neighbor, John Hyde (who told me that Mom was his first girlfriend!). Together, they gave me a blessing. A short time later, the nurse checked my vital signs and my oxygen level was normal. I would not have to go to Poky by ambulance!

When we arrived at the hospital, Deb got a wheelchair to take me in. As soon as I sat down, I told Deb I was going to throw up and just as she got something to my mouth, I let it go. I had thrown up twice before while at Preston and since I was on a liquid diet, it was the easiest puking I had ever done!

After I had checked into my room, Dr. Jackson showed up. He told us that he had a whole slew of tests that he wanted me to do the next day. Since I was doped up pretty good, I did get some sleep between all the visits from the nurses to check my vital signs. Again, Deb stayed with me and slept on a chair that made into a bed (much less comfortable than the recliner in Preston).

Friday morning started early (5:45 a.m.) when I had blood drawn. Then I was taken to test after test. I had chest x-rays done, I had an EKG, I had an echo cardiogram, I had an MRI. It just seemed like I had barely returned to my room when another nurse showed up with the wheelchair to take me somewhere else. By the time the day was over, I was exhausted. Never had my body been poked, punched, probed, and prodded so much. At the end of the day, Dr. Jackson said that they were narrowing down where my infection was. He wanted me to have another MRI on Saturday along with a probe into my throat to look at my heart to have a closer look at something that appeared on my echo cardiogram. The doctor then prescribed some intravenous antibiotics and morphine for the pain. I convinced Deb that she needed to go home so that she could be with our girls and get a good night sleep in our bed.

I would like to make a couple of observations from the tests I had. While doing the echo cardiogram, the technician showed me my heart as it pumped blood. You could clearly see the valves opening and closing. I sat there stunned at being able to see my own heart beat life through me. Before the echo gram, I had an MRI. I was very nervous about the MRI. I was afraid I was going to panic with claustrophobia. I then reflected on my youth when Dad when put a blanket up against the desk when we would play under it. I would panic thinking I would never get out of it even though it was Dad holding me in. I thought to myself as I entered the MRI machine, "If I panic inside here, I'm blaming Dad!" I was very nervous at the beginning but as the test proceeded, I kept telling myself that it was OK. When I was finished, the hair on the back of my head was completely drenched from sweat.

The MRI on Saturday was done with a contrast injected into my IV. That way the doctor could better pinpoint where the infection was. After the MRI, I then had my throat scoped. A cardiologist, Dr. Gonzalez, scoped my throat. I had to swallow a tube with a camera on the end (yes I was awake through it all). He then would look at my heart and valves with the camera in my throat. Let me tell you, for someone who has a hard time swallowing pills, it was a very daunting task to swallow a tube about the size of a child's finger! I choked and gagged big time!

The scope to look at my heart was clean. I had no heart problems. We were very thankful for that. However, the second MRI with the contrast showed that I had an infection laying on my spine in my mid back. So Dr. Jackson said we needed to treat it aggressively with antibiotics through an IV. At first, he said the treatments would be 6 weeks to three months but after getting a good look at the MRI, he came to the conclusion that it would be more like 3 to 6 months of IV antibiotic treatment. On Saturday evening, a PICC line was inserted into my vein in my upper left arm. I would receive all my IVs through the PICC line.

Sunday, Deb came to the hospital as soon as she dropped the girls off to Grandma Bet. They went to church in Swan Lake while Deb came to the hospital to be with me. Later, Grandma Bet brought Angie and Lilli to see me. I had not seen the girls since early Wednesday morning and I was anxious to see me. When they got to the room, Angie was more excited about riding the elevator than she was in seeing me. Lilli wanted to crawl up in bed with me when she saw me. I sure appreciated seeing the girls. It lifted my spirits.

On Monday, the doctor finally took me off a liquid diet. The first solid food meal I had was chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy and peas. I scarfed it down. I was never so thankful for a good meal than I was when I get to eat real food rather than broth, jello, Popsicles, and juice.

Deb was such a great sight for sore eyes during this time. All I could do was lay in bed and watch TV. Thankfully, one of the cable stations showed Hogan's Heroes quite a bit. I got to see a lot of episodes of my old favorite show! Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday were spent just laying in bed. Eventually the pain subsided and I went from morphine through my IV to a pill. During the night Monday, I did not have any painkillers at all.

On Tuesday, Dr. Jackson came in to see how I was doing. He asked us to go and see the MRI of my infection on the spine. Both Deb and I were stunned at how big the infection looked laying on my spine. Because of the size of it, Dr. Jackson said that the IVs would probably been 3 to 6 months rather than the 6 weeks to 3 months that he initially thought. He also said that he would make sure that we had home hospice come in to show Deb how to do the antibiotic IVs. Finally, Dr. Jackson said he would turn my case over to an infectious diseases doctor, Dr. Martha Buitrago. Unfortunately, her office is in Idaho Falls so it would mean commuting there to see her. We have an appointment for Wednesday, August 27.

I was very thankful to get home and sleep in my own bed. It seemed like an eternity since I had been home. Since I have been home, Deb has been trained on my IV antibiotics. I have two antibiotics that are administered. One is given to me continuously through a pump that I have to carry around. The other is administered for about 30 minutes every day. Deb has stepped up and been a great nurse for me!

I have thought a lot about my battle with my staph infection. I have wondered what would have happened if this had occurred 10 years ago. Would the doctors been able to diagnose the problem? What about 25 years ago? Would it have been a fatal infection then? I am so blessed to live in a time now that computers and machines can literally look inside my body to find the problem. It is a miracle.

I have also greatly appreciated all the doctors, nurses, and technicians that were so willing to help me find the problem and then get the solution. These men and women are so talented and I am grateful for each one of them.

Finally, I am so thankful for the prayers of so many--friends and family. I have grown to appreciate the girls and they joy they bring to my life. I do not know where I would be if I did not have my wonderful wife by my side each step of the way. She has been such a strength and a support. I love her with all my heart.

I am still sick. I still have the infection to fight off. But with the help of talented medical personnel and the prayers of those close to me, we will win.

This Will Hurt Me More Than You!

Yesterday (July 30), we had a crisis in the Gambles' household. Recently, Lilli has been playing in the toilet. We have repeatedly punished her for it. However, Angie has also started getting into the toilet even though she has seen Lilli punished for it. To make a long story short, Angie got caught playing in the toilet just a few minutes after Lilli had been punished for the same thing. We decided drastic measures were needed to get Angie, who knew what she was doing was wrong, to stop doing it. We had told her earlier that we were going to the Downey City Park for an Elders' Quorum party. She was excited since she knew she could play on the swings and slides. So, we decided that Deb and the girls were going to stay home from the party. However, as we thought about it, it wouldn't be fair to Deb and Lilli to be forced to stay home. So, as punishment, Angie could go to the party but could not play in the playground. Before and after supper (superbly cooked, I might add), Angie would sit or stand on the edge of the playground. I could tell she really wanted to go play. It broke my heart, but I knew she needed to learn her lesson. There were several times I just about said, "Go ahead and play." I understood, though, that she would then learn that breaking the rules would have no consequences. I bit my tongue and watched her suffer.


Later, I reflected on how sometimes our Father in Heaven must feel when we break his rules, and then he has to punish his children. I never dreamed that fatherhood would be so challenging...yet so rewarding!

Pioneer Children

On Pioneer Day, the Downey 2nd Ward Primary held an activity. The children (and leaders) were encouraged to dress up as pioneers. Angie Taylor, president of the Downey 2nd Ward Primary, had a dress that she lent to Angie so she could dress up like a pioneer. So Deb and Angie went to the activity at the church. One of the activities they did was walk down to the city park and look at the cabin there. You will notice the boots Deb had on. They are actually too small for her and by the time she was done with the activity, her feet were killing her. You may also notice that Angie's shoes are actually flip-flops--authentic pioneer footwear!

That evening, we went to Clifton to watch the fireworks. We took Grandma Bet with us. It was the first time in years that Clifton put on a fireworks show. It was pretty good considering the small town and no one was charged any admittance.


Lilli waving to the camera:















On July 26, Angie was in the Lava Hot Springs Founders' Day parade. She was with her dance academy. She loves being in parades and is proud to see her family. Before the parade, she told us she would throw candy to us when she went by. Unfortunately, however, there was no candy for her to throw! She still enjoyed it, though. We took Grandma Don with us to see the parade.

When we got home, we went to Swan Lake to celebrate Pioneer Day with them. We had a fabulous supper of chicken with potluck salads and desserts. After dinner, the Swan Lake tradition of a water fight broke out. We, fortunately, stayed dry.

After clean-up, Deb and I went to Brad's house where we played Killer Bunnies with Katie (Henderson) and her new husband Tom Reck. It was a complicated game that was very confusing. In the end, Tom won (since he knew all the rules!). Angie and Lilli went with Grandma Bet and stayed with her. Lilli crashed and Angie kept Grandma Bet active until we got there at about 1 a.m.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

The Idaho Falls Chukars (a minor-league rookie team) had an Idaho State University night. Since tickets were free for ISU employees, I picked up 6 tickets. Since our mothers were not willing to go, Deb and I took the girls to the game. The girls enjoyed the game--for the first five minutes! After that, Lilli made her presence known to everyone around her. She made sure she touched or grabbed all of our neighbors or screamed. Thank goodness, all of our neighbors were understanding! When asked if she liked the game, Angie said no. Next time, it will be a date--we will let one of the grandmothers tend the kids!

The game was actually a good pitchers' duel with the Helena Brewers coming out on top 3-1. All in all, though, I enjoyed the time with my family.

The Gambles and Bear Lake

On July 10th, Deb, the girls, and I drove over to Liberty to begin our vacation and to kick off the George Gambles Family Reunion. Since we knew that Lynn, Leisha, and their family were camping up North Canyon just outside of Libery, we drove over and had supper with them at their campsite.

After supper, Angie went with Grandma Don into Lynn's trailer to go potty. Grandma Don quickly found out that anything you say to Angie will be repeated. Grandma Don had gone to the bathroom and told Angie that she needed to light a match (for obvious reasons). When Grandma Don and Angie emerged from the trailer, Angie announced, "Grandma needs to light a match!" Of course, Grandma Don went 20 shades of red!

That night, we slept at Lynn and Leisha's and got ready to go to Garden City for the George Gambles Family Reunion.

We arrived at the Garden City Park just as the reunion lunch was beginning. Many cousins, aunts, and uncles were there. We enjoyed visiting with those that were in attendance and missed those that did not come.

Here are a few pics from the reunion:

Uncle Milton, Aunt Virgene, Mom, Aunt Camille, Aunt Lois, Uncle Bob, Aunt Marilyn, and Uncle Ross:

Lilli at the reunion:

Angie playing in the sand at Garden City Park:

After the reunion, we went to the cabin we rented at Harbor Village. It was a spectacular place. Here is the view from inside the cabin:

That evening, the hot tub was used and many conversations were done. Some headed to Bear Lake for a short while. That night, Mom won Gambles Reunion Survivor, beating out Nathan.

On Saturday, Shauna, Scott, Mom, Deb, and I drove to Swan Lake to attend the funeral of Fay Merrill. It was a wonderful service. While we were gone, everyone else went to Bear Lake and played. That evening, we played games until the wee hours of the morning.

Sunday morning we checked out of our cabin and then visited with the Kent's/Hess' family. We then returned home to end the fabulous time.

As Sid's family was leaving, Angie got emotional and did not want to leave. She began to cry because she was sad. As a kid, I got emotional and did not want to leave our family reunions. She is like her dad.

Here is a link for the web album on Picasa of all the pictures that I took while at the reunion. Be warned, the pictures are big--especially the panaromic pics.

2008 George Gambles Reunion

Death and Life

The older I get in the life, the more meanful death becomes. The passing of Uncle Keith and Fay Merrill brought death back into my life as these loved ones passed through the veil. As always, it is a very mournful time of life when those that we love leave us. However, as a think about their experience of going through the veil, I wonder what that is like and what Dad is doing.

I am sure that Dad was standing in the background as Uncle Keith hugged his mother and father after passing through the veil. The hugs were given to Clair and Ralph. Then Dad shook Keith's hand and welcomed him to life without pain but also without a body. Dad may have even done some missionary work--explaining that the Plan of Salvation is true and that Dad would be glad to share its message with Keith if you would like to hear it.

When Fay passed through the veil, I am sure Dad was anxiously waiting in the background as Fay hugged her family members. Dad was probably wishing it was Mom coming through the veil as I am sure he misses her dearly. Then, when Dad and Fay greeted, it was with a warm hug. Dad then peppered Fay with a million questions about Mom, all of us kids, and his grandkids. He then asked about his fellow Swan Lakers--and I am sure he beamed from ear to ear as Fay reported on his son as bishop of the Swan Lake Ward (although I am sure he already knew about it). They probably talked more than they should have.

Over the years (it hardly seems possible to be 16 years!), the sting of Dad's death has faded. But my love for him and missing him has not. I believe he has news of all the goings on with his family--though like letters. As a missionary, I loved getting letters from home. There were times, though, letters were not enough. I wanted to be home experiencing what my family was experiencing. I feel that is the way Dad feels. Love you Dad. Here's to seeing you soon someday--but not that soon! I have kids to raise!

Highliner

Another Kim Komando video to highlight. This one is about a "highliner." They are essentially tight-rope walkers. Watch the video and ask the question, "How long will this guy live?"

Independence Day

Our family had a very eventful and fun-filled Independence Day.

We started the day out at the Arimo City Park for the Arimo Firefighters' Breakfast. We met up with Grandma Don and the Jons family. It was a delicious breakfast of eggs, sausage, hash browns, pancakes, juice, and milk.

We decided to attend the Arimo breakfast because Angie had to be in Inkom at 9:15 am. She was in the parade with the Showtime Dance Academy. The parade was very long. It started up near the cemetery and ended at the old school house. Lucky for Angie, she got to ride in the pickup with some of the other girls in her class. However, the rest of the girls had to walk and do dances all the way. Deb was very anxious and worried about her. In fact, she ran and got her out of the pickup before she was even near where we were parked so Grandma Don, Lilli, and me did not get to see her in the parade. Deb had to catch up with the rest of the group to get Angie back into the parade. Here are a couple of pictures of the parade:
After the parade, we drove back to Arimo for the pot luck lunch in the park. Again, we joined with the Jons for lunch.

After lunch, we took a nap at Grandma Don's--well at least Deb and I took a nap. The girls kept Grandma Don busy doing other things than napping!

We then drove into Pocatello and met at Jyl and Landen's house in Pocatello. We met with other Browers and went to the Bannock County Fairgrounds to see The Biggest Show in Idaho. Before the fireworks, Deb and I took Angie on some slides and rides that were available.

The first slide that Angie went on, she was a little scared so Deb went with her. It proved a little difficult for her:

Angie went next:

Angie then rode on the swing:

Angie's last slide:

We then waited for the fireworks display by visiting with each other, playing games, and eating snacks. Angie and Lilli enjoyed playing with their cousin Benjamin:

Lilli enjoying a moment with Grandpa Lynn:

The fireworks were spectacular. Thanks to Landen (who works for the sponsor Courtesy Ford), we had a great view of the fireworks on the Bannock County Fairgrounds.

After the fireworks, we went to Logan and Mallie's place where Logan gave us a glow-stick show. It was very good. The kids then did a few sparklers and we came home--exhausted.

Of Adoptions and Sealings

Sometime ago, I read an article by Dr. James Dobson about adopting children and how there are times when the child feels that he or she is not really a part of the family since they were not born into the family. Dr. Dobson suggested that the family not only celebrate the child's birthday, but also they should celebrate on the anniversary of the adoption. Deb and I decided to incorporate that into our family.


On June 29, 2005 Angie was declared by the judge to be ours legally and later that day, a temple sealer declared Angie to be ours for eternity. So, on Sunday we made a big point to have Angie understand what a special day it was. We asked her what she wanted to do, and she said she wanted to go swimming. So we told her we would do that on Monday. The video is of us right after the judge made Angie officially ours.

On Monday, we had both grandmothers for dinner. However, thundering and lightening scared us off from swimming. So we gave Angie her presents (a doll stroller and a doll play pen). She loves them both.

Can She Really Do That?

OK. I'm not sure if I am freaked out by this or amazed. In any event, this is another Kim Kamando Video of the Day. It was on her website on June 28th. The lady in this video is known as Snake Girl and she has been doing this contortionism since a young child.

True Friendship

I get most of my videos from Kim Kamando. She has a Video of the Day. Here is what she says about this video:

I’ll bet you’ve never seen a pet like the one in this Video of the Day. In 1969, two friends, John Rendall and Ace Berg, purchased a lion. At the time, Christian the lion was a 35-pound cub. He had been born in a zoo. The friends raised Christian in their London home. All three hung out in a friend’s furniture shop on the weekends.

Within a year, Christian had grown to 185 lbs. Rendall and Berg realized they couldn’t keep him much longer. But they didn’t know what to do with him. A chance encounter changed that. Two actors from the film Born Free walked into the furniture store.

The actors recommended a conservationist, George Adamson, living in Kenya. Christian was soon in Africa. There he was rehabilitated and released into the wild.
In 1974, Rendall and Berg decided to visit Christian one last time. He was now a wild animal. Adamson told them it was doubtful that Christian could be found. No one had seen him in nine months.

The two flew to Kenya, anyway. On the day they landed, Christian appeared outside Adamson’s camp. Somehow, he knew. He waited outside the camp until Rendall and Berg arrived.

This video was taken during their reunion with Christian. What a story! What a video!

Here is the video:

Bearfoots, Buffalo, and Macaroni

We have returned from our family trip to Island Park/Yellowstone Park. It was very fun! We spent a lot of family time together while we camped and enjoyed Heavenly Father's wonderful creation.


We departed from Downey on Tuesday, June 17. We arrived in Island Park at Mack's Inn and set up our tent in the Mack's Inn camping area. The illustruous leader of the family had forgotten not only wood but matches. We had planned on cooking hot dogs over the fire. We had to beg a neighbor camper for some wood, but since it was large pieces, and we had no real good kindling, the fire did not go as planned. Therefore, we ate cold hot dogs and the smores were just the marshmallows! A wonderful start to our family trip!


Angie, on the other hand, was very excited about camping. She was constantly remarking how happy she was that we were camping. Cold hot dogs was worth that!


On Wednesday, we motored into Yellowstone National Park. Our first stop was in West Yellowstone. Two years ago during the Brower Family Reunion at Island Park, Deb purchased three Bearfoot bears--each one holding a different letter, T, D, and A. Deb ran into the store where she bought them to look for an L bear. She was able to purchase it. She said that her bear family was now complete!

After after entering the park, we stopped to look at the buffalo along the Madison River:

While watching the Buffalo eat, Angie asked what they were eating. I answered that they were eating grass. While contemplating the answer, Angie then matter-of-factly said, "They don't eat macaroni." Oh, the wisdom of a three-year old, macaroni-loving girl!

We stopped at Old Faithful and watched the eruption. It was one of the better eruptions that I have seen at Old Faithful. However, Lilli was more interested in the basset hound next to us. She almost mauled the dog!

On the route around the lower loop in the Hebden Valley, we noticed a park ranger had set up a telescope so we stopped to see what she was looking at. Come to find out, a grizzly bear was laying on some snow about 2 miles away. With the naked eye, the bear just looked like a brown spot on the snow. The telescope view was just a little better--but at least we got to see a bear on our visit!

Our next stop was at the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. As usual, it was a spectacular scene. The wind, though, was blowing and Angie and Lilli did not enjoy it too much since the wind made it chilly. It took all we had to get this picture taken:

On our trip through the park, we saw hundreds of buffalo. However, we saw only three elk during our entire trip through the park on the lower loop. That was a little disappointing.

On our way back to our campsite, we stopped at the Outpost Restaurant in West Yellowstone to eat. The food was OK, not the greatest, and definitely overpriced. But in West Yellowstone, it was priced about average.

On Thursday, we just chilled at the campsite. We did visit Big Springs to get carried away by the mosquitos! Our visit to Big Springs was cut short when I noticed that a seagull had pooped on Deb's butt! She didn't even know that she had been pooped on!

That evening, I was able to get a good, hot fire going. We had prepared some tin foil dinners to cook that night. I should have noticed that things were getting too cooked by the smoke coming from one of the dinners! So, we went from raw the first night to burnt the last night!

On the way home, we took the Mesa Falls Scenic Byway and stopped at the Mesa Falls. The falls were beautiful and Angie and Lilli loved going into the lodge and looking at the stuffed animals and skins.

We stopped at Idaho Falls and went to the Tautphaus Park Zoo. The camera batteries died after this picture, or I would have had a picture of Lilli in with the goats. Both girls loved the animals, and I was impressed at what the zoo offered--much more than I expected.

We had a wonderful time on our trip. The girls loved it, but it sure was good to get back into our own bed!

A Couple of Videos

Here are a couple of videos I came across recently. The first is from America's Got Talent and you may have seen it already. It is quite the magic trick.



The second is for today--Flag Day. It is a skydiver unfurling a huge flag.

"Don't Get Mad"

Angie was in Nursery at church last Sunday. Sister Donna Richardson was substituting for the week. While in Nursery, one of the other kids spilled a bunch of Crayons on the floor. When Angie saw it, she told Sis. Richardson: "Don't get mad. Don't say crap, and just pick them up." She then helped Sis. Richardson pick up the crayons.

"Look at the Whole Wide World!"

Our family spent the first few days of June on a great vacation! On Monday, June 2, we drove to Heber City to take advantage of a free stay at the Rodeway Inn Bear Mountain Lodge on Main Street. The hotel website talked about the great rooms and the outdoor heated swimming pool. Well, the rooms were well-used (with a hint of smoking smell) and the pool was empty. It was a big disappointment for Deb and Angie when they saw the pool.

To make things better, we went to a park up the street to play on the swings and slides. Some pictures of Deb and the kids at the park:

Lilli and Deb on the slide.

Angie deciding what to do next.

Lilli with Bear!

Lilli swinging with Bear.

Lilli with Bear.

Deb helping Angie on the Monkey Bars.

Angie getting ride to slide.

Angie at the end of her slide.

After playing in the park, we went to Home of the Train Dairy Keen. It is a fun place to eat--though we just had a slush to cool us down. While there, the kids rode a train and sat in a train with tables for dining. Inside the restaurant, there was a table of wooden toy trains, a Lego table, and overhead a model train circled the dining area. Some pics:

Angie and Lilli on the train ride at the Dairy Keen

Lilli and Angie on the train of tables

Lilli, Angie, and Deb on the table train

We then went on ride to the top of Memorial Hill in Midway. Deb got out of the car with Angie and Deb started to show her the Heber Valley. Angie then said, "Look at the whole wide world, Mom!"

We then drove to Pizza Hut for supper then back to the hotel to bed.

The next morning we drove to Salt Lake City via Park City. While in Park City, we saw this bear and had our picture taken next to it:


We then went to Salt Lake and the Tracy Aviary. We got to see many different birds and even a couple of male peacocks strutting their stuff for a female peacock. After visiting the aviary, we went to the slide and swing area of Liberty Park. Again, Angie and Lilli had a blast swinging and sliding!

Angie finishing a slide

Angie at the park

Angie on the swing

Angie in the swing

Angie getting ready to swing

Deb helping Angie swing

Deb helping Lilli and Angie swing

Lilli and Angie swinging with the help of Deb

After our visit to Liberty Park, we went to downtown Salt Lake and rode the Trax. Then we motored over to Shauna and Scott's. Shauna doesn't love us so she made other plans to avoid being with us! Scott was a gracious host taking us to Chili's with Chris and Jessie.

When we got up on Wednesday morning, it was pouring. We had planned to go to Hogle Zoo. We waited around for a while hoping the rain would quit, but it didn't. By late afternoon, it had slowed to a drizzle so we tried going. Even though it was a drizzle, we still got wet but we had the zoo practically all to ourselves. We even crashed a private party for zoo donors (minimum donation to go to the party was $5,000!). We then came home--exhausted, wet, but happy.